debate. >> some showers even some strong thunderstorms yesterday. could that all happen again today? we'll talk about that coming up. >> we just checked with caltrans. there is still roadwork on the upper deck of the bay bridge. is it enough to slow you down? we'll tell you coming up. good morning. it's thursday, october 11. i michelle griego. >> hi, everybody. i'm frank mallicoat. we have new evidence bringing renewed hope for the mother of the kidnapped hayward girl. >> she could learn the fate of her daughter after two decades. cbs 5 reporter anne makovec reports with new clues on the case. >> reporter: her mother wrote on this facebook page that she has been running for a while, she wrote on it overnight, dear michaela, i think this might be it. there is a bone fragment tested it results inconclusive. it's now being sent to a lab in virginia for positive identification. but results could take weeks. now, investigators want to know

if it belongs to michaela garecht abducted here in hayward back in 1988. the bone fragment was again to another family. joanne hobson's body was found. the family was suspicious after seeing investigators dig up the burial site with a backhoe. testing found 28 of the bone fragments given to the family belonged to at least three other people including a child between the ages of 5 and 14. michaela was nine when she disappeared. >> i don't know how else to live because because we have lived this way for so long searching for michaela and hoping that she would come home. >> reporter: a sketch of michaela's alleged kidnapper looks similar to "speed freak" serial killer loren herzog. his killing spree partner wesley shermantine calls out herzog saying he had family

that lived in castro valley by hayward. on that facebook page, i mentioned run by michaela's mother, she wrote if it is confirmed i will be glad to know the truth simply because it is the truth. live in hayward, anne makovec cbs 5. a break in the investigation into the murder of a retired teacher in her hercules home. two people are held now for a crime spree that began with a jail break down in san bernardino county in august ended with a big police chase near seattle yesterday. police there spotting the stole- car, the murder victim susie ko. they say the driver rammed patrol cars with the subaru and ko's family relieved to learn that 24-year-old darnell washington and his 25-year-old wife tania are now in custody. >> this reaction is a little bit of relief. we have been working so hard since the event happened to find some major clue in finding this car. >> hercules police have gone to

washington to question the couple about ko's killing. they are also suspects in the attempted murder of an l.a. county sheriff's deputy just last month. san jose's serial arsonist strikes again. a garbage bin was set on fire around 8:00 last night on the 1100 block of dell ma manor lane the same area fire officials handed out flyers about the arsons earlier yesterday. the fire was put out by good samaritans before crews got there. this is the ninth such fire in the area. 5:03. a wee bit of rain last night. we were watching the as rain you could see it coming down around the fifth or sixth inning, right? >> couldn't stop the as. they were on fire and the giants, too. it was an interesting day though yesterday afternoon. we had some thunderstorms popping up around the bay area even severe thunderstorms into parts of the south bay. this is a shot from gilroy. that's hail on the ground there. getting in closer you can see some of that hail is actually a littler larger than a quarter.

that is very, very impressive for california to see that kind of hail. nonetheless a sign of thunderstorms from that hail and we may see a few more thunderstorms pop up today. fairly quiet reports of light sprinkles and scattered showers and you can see some of that activity off the coast wrapping around that area of low pressure that's been slowly spinning to southern california. we may see more of that wrap around today and again that target will be in the south bay could see some thunderstorms popping up this afternoon. temperatures now mainly in the 40s. by the afternoon going to keep things cool only in the 60s and low 70s. there is a major warmup. we'll have that coming up. now let's check traffic with elizabeth. >> let's talk oakland. the as playing tonight 6:37 first pitch so you could see extra traffic tie-ups for the evening commute so want to let you know that. but in the meantime, 880 not too bad even though we again have been talking to caltrans this morning. they still have that roadwork in lanes on northbound 880 between fruitvale and

embarcadero. southbound 880 looks okay. pretty free and clear to hayward. so there's a look at your drive times. 16 minutes. and that's the case in both directions between 238 and the maze. farther south towards milpitas, live look at 880/237, so the silicon valley ride not too bad between 880 and 101. mass transit continues to run on time of. quick check of some of our bridges. san mateo bridge eastbound 92 approach to the bridge towards hayward various lanes blocked. caltrans tells us until about 6:00 this morning. but westbound looks okay heading towards the peninsula. traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. back to you guys. it is a one-time only competition as the vice president joe biden debates republican vice-presidential nominee paul ryan tonight and randall pinkston joins us live from danville, kentucky, site of this evening's big showdown. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frank. with polls show mitt romney with momentum republicans are certainly hoping that congressman paul ryan will keep it going while democrats are counting on vice president joe

biden to reverse the flow and to stop the loss of support among voters. reporter: congressman paul ryan arrived in kentucky ahead of his first nationally televised debate. the number 2 man on the gop ticket told reporters earlier in florida voters will see a clear choice when he faces off against vice president joe biden. >> this is my first time. what he can't run from is president obama's indefensible record. they are just offering more of the same. >> reporter: ryan will face an opponent who occasionally causes controversy with freewheeling statements but republicans also know vice president biden is a seasoned debater. >> nothing like standing up before 70 million people. >> reporter: usually vice- presidential debates don't greatly impact elections but after president obama's lackluster performance at his first debate with mitt romney, many believe democrats are desperate for vice president

biden to make a strong showing tonight. >> what it will do for president obama's campaign after the horrific debate president obama had last week it could stop the bleeding. >> reporter: new polls from three battleground states show romney has a one-point edge in colorado. in wisconsin the race is tightening. the president's six point lead before his first debate with romney is down to three points while in virginia. president has a five-point lead. romney and the president debate for the second, time next week in new york. >> and despite the poll numbers senior obama advisor david ale rod this morning is saying there's not a lot of big momentum for romney although he admits romney picked up points after the first debate. they are looking to see what happens after the vice- presidential debate tonight. randall pinkston. back to you. >> thank you. >> let's talk about strategy. what do you expect from each candidate tonight?

>> well, of course, congressman ryan will hit hard on the economy, the numbers. he is a numbers guy. he will try to make sure that what he says coincide with governor romney. vice president biden will try to convince undecided voters and also we think vice president biden will try not to make one of his famous gaffs. >> that's what we were just talking about. randall, live in kentucky, thanks so much. >> should be fun. >> reporter: we hope he does so we'll have something to talk about. >> of course. >> true. [ laughter ] >> thank you, randall. you can catch live coverage of the debate tonight at 6:00 on cbs 5 and cbssf.com if you are not near a tv. 5:08. the oakland as staying alive in the play-offs a big win against the tigers last night and today they will have home field advantage in a do or die game 5. cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran

joins us now with more on the as fever. do you have a little bit of that fever? >> reporter: i do. go big or go home? they went big and now they are home. we are happy for that. last night's game definitely ended with some uproar. >> right field base hit seth smith coming around and the oakland as will live another day. game five is tomorrow. >> reporter: detroit was one inning away from moving to the championship but the as made a late rally for a remarkable comeback. the tigers ahead by two runs going into the bottom of the 9th. the as brought in three runs to win the game 4-3. coco crisp was the star of the night lacing a two-out single to right to deliver the winning run after seth smith tied it with a two-run double. >> well, just not giving upful not until that final out.

man! the guys in front of us did a fantastic job. >> reporter: you notice something on his face. as per tradition, crisp while giving that post-game interview got a little treat from his teammate when josh reddick surprised him with a pie to the face and he washed it down with gatorade. tonight's the night the game will be here at the coliseum at 6:30 so you can bet it will be a full parking lot full stadium or full coliseum, rather, appear if it wasn't basically if you have been -- if you have been following the as from the beginning, they have had a remarkable story. it's expected to be a very exciting night. live in oakland, cate caugiran, cbs 5. sandoval high and deep. will it stay fair? that is way, way out of here. >> looking pretty good. the giants also had to win yesterday to stay alive and they did big time. they pounded the reds in cincinnati 8-3. the series is even at 2 games apiece. game time today 10 a.m.

our time. so in the newsroom this morning, guess what we're doing. >> all tvs on the giants-reds game. should be fun. big day for baseball. big night last night, too. 5:11. san francisco's embattled sheriff is back at work but his job is still far from secure. jane kim a member of the board of supervisors voted to reinstate ross mirkarimi. she told the "chronicle" newspaper she would support a recall effort against him. kim says she voted out of concern it would set a precedent about what constitutes official misconduct. 7 of the 11 supervisors voted to remove mirkarimi. nine votes were needed to remove him. mirkarimi pleaded guilty in march to misdemeanor false imprisonment stemming from an argument before he took office that left of his wife's arm bruised. time now 5:11. not a suitable babysitter. what a new report says about toddlers and tv. >> will life find a way? scientists weigh in on the

possibility of real life jurassic park, coming your way. >> the surprise visiters that sent a washington school into lockdown. ,,,, at the guaranteed's lowest price.attresses plus, pay no interest for 3 years on the best brand-name mattress sets.

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time.. here we go. a black bear and three cubs caused an elementary school to be locked down for a time. the bears ran on to the school

grounds. this is in issaquah, washington near seattle. but by the time police and wildlife officials showed up with a dog, to get those bears out of there, they were smart. they took off! probably went down back towards the creek where i guess plenty of salmon are running right now. but that would certainly be a big deal at an elementary school. >> you would hear everyone screaming if we had audio! oh, no, a bear! [ laughter ] let's check the roads. no bears on the road. >> no, bringing the zoo to the school. like that. a whole little family, so cute. let's go live towards the bay bridge. and the bay bridge is actually looking great. they just picked up that overnight roadwork we were telling you about. it sounded like one lane was blocked overnight near the cantilever section so everything is good to go into san francisco. never really caused a delay because it is still early only 5:15 this morning. elsewhere, to our maps, some of our other areas of roadwork have been picked up now that it's past 5:00. westbound 580 heating up through the altamont pass and livermore but your drive time

still only about 15 minutes. elsewhere highway 4 another spot usually our first spot to see brake lights a little bit of changing color on our sensors not much still looks good through antioch and the pittsburg-bay point area so this would be a good time to leave. otherwise oakland as of course we have been talking about it all morning long, they play first pitch at 6:37 p.m. so could cause some traffic tie- ups for the evening commute. but for right now, that roadwork overnight on northbound 880 up towards downtown oakland that's actually been picked up a little ahead of schedule so now northbound and southbound 880 flowing nicely between downtown and hayward. to the marin county commute and southbound 101 is nicely flowing across the golden gate towards doyle drive. bart another good option for the oakland as game tonight and so far all trains are on time including those downtown san francisco spots. that is your "timesaver traffic." for more on your forecast, here's lawrence who is whipping out his hi-def doppler once again. >> yes, i sure am, elizabeth. we have some clouds around the bay area this morning and a few

scattered light showers. looks like things again going to stay a bit unsettled. yesterday was some kind of afternoon with strong thunderstorms in the south bay. a lot of moisture wrapping around the area of low pressure so that's what we are going to see on and off throughout the day today. a lot of clouds today, springs, light showers, mix of sun and clouds by the afternoon. but in the south bay, again, it looks like another chance of some of those thunderstorms popping up late in the day. all caused by this area of low pressure that's spinning around and that moisture kind of wrapping right back around into the bay area. it is slowly going to work into southern california. but before it does, leaving maybe a couple of leftover showers for today. our computer models picking up on a lot of clouds, cool temperatures, occasional showers and then a good band of moisture works into the bay area in the evening. so a chance of those showers and thunderstorms popping up late in the day once again at least into the south bay. as we head throughout the afternoon, it is going to stay cool. let's plan on those numbers about 68 degrees in san jose, 65 in fremont, 66 in redwood city, east bay temperatures up

in the 60s, maybe some low 70s in antioch and brentwood and as you make your way inside the bay the numbers going to stay down 64 san francisco, 59 daly city, 68 petaluma. next couple of days, weather is going to take a turn for the better. this weekend, high pressure building in. warmer temperatures, maybe an offshore wind some numbers 90 next week. back to you. >> thank you. another nobel prize was announced in sweden just a short time ago. chinese writer mo yan was named the winner of the nobel prize in literature. the swedish academy which selects the winners praised his work saying it merges folk tales, history and the contemporary. treasury secretary timothy geithner says the u.s. would support a bailout plan for spain by the international monetary fund. asian stocks were down this morning in response to the worsening economic struggles in spain. late yesterday, standard & poor's cut its rating on

spain's debt by two notches. s&p says spain's hesitation in requesting a eurozone bailout raises the risks. 5:19. investigators in colorado have found a body but they are not saying if it's that of a 10- year-old girl who went missing last week. jessica ridgeway was last seen on friday when she left for school. investigate, found human remains yesterday. -- investigators found human remains yesterday. no other details have been released yet. ridgeway was believed to be abducted. evidence in the colorado theater shooting will be made public today during a court hearing for the accused shooter james holmes. prosecutors will add 14 more counts against holmes bringing the total to 166. 12 people were killed and 58 injured during the shooting in july. a construction worker survives the collapse of a parking garage in miami of the the roof of the five-story structure fell at the miami- dade community college yesterday. quite a mess. the man was trapped under a

huge slab of concrete for about 13 hours. he is in critical condition this morning. one worker is still unaccounted for there. two people were killed. eight others were injured. it's 5:20 right now. in your healthwatch this morning, if you toss out medication as soon as it expires, you might be jumping the gun. a researcher with uc-san francisco found that some drugs are still potent 40 years after their expiration date. two of the drugs tested were aspirin and amphetamine. the researcher says extending expiration dates on drugs could save patients hundreds of dollars. another study says no screen time for toddlers. a group of pediatricians is urging doctors and government officials in england to set limits on the amount of time of children spend in front of digital screens. that includes computers and mobile phones. the study says children under 3 should only watch two hours of tv a day. researchers say too much screen time causes developmental and physical harm. if you are holding out hope

a real world jurassic park will one day open keep on dreaming. scientists say it's impossible because actual dinosaur dna is gone. the study comes after claims that genetic material from dinosaurs could still be used in cloning. the science journal "nature" reports that dna has a half- life of about 521 years so sorry, dino. you're not coming back. >> long gone. 5:21. the sleeping giants are wide awake. who stepped up to lead the g- men to a big win in cincinnati. >> plus, it was an improbable ending in oakland. how the as managed to pull off a big win last night. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

a few showers around the bay area overnight. we're not done with the rain just yet. maybe some more thunderstorms, too. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and so far, so good across pretty much all of our bridges. here's a live look at three traffic cameras for you. the golden gate and bay bridge problem-free and it's a nice commute as well for silicon valley riders through milpitas. much more time-saver traffic coming up in a few minutes. thank you. it's 5:24 right now. amazing, the oakland as team faced elimination in game 4 against detroit. >> i went to bed last night woke up this morning looked at

my phone, you got to be kidding me! what a game. let's take a look. bottom of the 9th as down 3-1 seth smith drives in two with a double to tie the game. he is on second and needs to come home and guess who brings him home? coco crisp gives the as another walkoff win 4-3 decisive game five at 6:30 tonight at the coliseum. >> the giants fired up again in cincinnati. gregor blanco puts them ahead for good with a home run in the second and then tim lincecum came out of the bullpen again to keep the lead and get the win. five innings, gave up one run. 8-3 the final. game 5 at 10 a.m. an early start time in cincinnati. turns out as don't have a copyright on walkoff victory. play of the day new york yangtze ibanez hit a game winning home run, the yankees

win last night. yankees new york has a 2-1 lead in the series. the winner faces the win of tonight's as tigers game in the alcs. game one set for sunday. a real-life bonnie and clyde. >> the husband and wife suspected in a 1,000-mile crime spree. how they may be tied to the murder of a retired bay area teacher. coming up. >> new hopes for closure in the michaela garecht kidnapping case from 1988. how she could be tied to the "speed freak" killers. >> plus, can the vice- presidential candidates swing the momentum? what to watch for in tonight's vp debate.

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rea kidnapping >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald we've lived this way for so long. >> possible break in an infamous bay area kidnapping. how the case of michaela garecht could be linked to the "speed freak" killers. >> clouds around the bay area now. there's a chance of showers, maybe even some thunderstorms again. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and so far, so good all across the golden gate bridge. yeah, pretty nice commute into san francisco. coming up a check of bay area drive times and mass transit. thank you, liz. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, october 11. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now, 5:30. new hope this morning for a bay area mother who has been dealing with the loss of her daughter for decades. police are now testing a bone fragment. it was taken from a san joaquin county well and cbs 5 reporter anne makovec now in hayward with more on the kidnapping case of michaela garecht. i guess the family has a little hope, right? >> yes. michaela's mother wrote on her facebook page last night i don't know how to live right

now in this waiting time. she going to have to wait a little longer to find out if these remains do belong to her daughter. the hayward pd has sent these remains to a lab in virginia and results could take weeks. now, michaela garecht was kidnapped back in 1988 from hayward. she was nine years old at the time. the bone was initially given to the family of other victim, joanne hobson's remains found in a linden well in february. when her remains were found they ordered the tests suspicious after seeing investigators dig up the burial site with a backhoe. >> when he saw how they dug it out with the big clause i was horrified. >> reporter: the testing found 28 of the bone fragments given to the family belong to at least three other people including a child between the ages of 5 and 14.

>> that is, i think, truly shameful. you know? i have to thank joann hobson's family because they received their daughter's remains and rather than just accepting it, they went to the trouble of having it tested. >> reporter: now, a sketch of michaela's allege kidnapper looks similar to serial killer loren herzog. his killing spree partner wesley shermantine wrote a jailhouse letter saying that herzog had family that lived in castro valley in the area. >> it breaks her heart to think of her little body lying in that god forsaken place for all these years. if that's so, i want to gather her up and bring her home, the mother's post on facebook. two people held in

connection with the murder of retired teacher in her hercules home. they are in crime from a crime spree that ended with a police chase in seattle. police spotted the stolen car of murder victim susie ko. they say the drive rammed patrol cars with the subaru. they arrested 24-year-old darnell washington and his 25- year-old wife tania. >> we just know that they were in the stolen vehicle and certainly are people that we want to talk to. if they are not the suspects then hopefully they can give us information that will lead us back to the suspect. >> hercules police have gone to washington to question the couple about ko's killing. they are also suspects in the attempted murder of an l.a. county sheriff's deputy last month. 5:33. san jose's serial arsonist strikes again a garbage bin set on fire around 8:00 last night in the same area fire officials handed out flyers about the arsons earlier yesterday. the fire was put out by neighbors before crews got on scene there. this is the ninth such fire in

that area. let's check weather and traffic. i woke up to thunder last night. >> we have lightning especially in the south bay a severe thunderstorm near gilroy yesterday and watsonville. look at the lightning strikes being picked up as that thunderstorm is picking up in the afternoon. heating of the afternoon giving rise to thunderstorms with amazing cumulonimbus clouds. we may see more again today. scattered showers off the coast. it's all rotating around that area of low pressure that's slowly sliding into southern california. possible thunderstorms this afternoon the most of the bay area looking at clouds and cooler-than-normal temperatures. numbers near 80 in the afternoon today a good 6 to 11 degrees below average mainly about 68 degrees in san jose

about 69 for high in livermore and 68 in concord. >> a traffic alert in marin county of a lot of slowing on our sensors southbound 101 before the marinwood exit and slow going from it looks like highway 37. so once you get past that exit then things improve. looks good towards the waldo tunnel and across the golden gate bridge. all bart trains on time including those towards oakland and downtown san francisco. of course bart might be a good option. as first first pitch 6:37. that's your "timesaver traffic." back to you guys. >> they have a game tonight? >> they do. >> the as survived game 4 last night to keep their play-off run alive. tonight another must win game

5. cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran in oakland this morning where the as take on the tigers tonight and what a night it was last night, cate. >> reporter: definitely, frank. i want you to take a listen right now because this is the quietest you will hear the coliseum because later tonight is that make or break game. just when the tigers thought they had us, nope, we showed them we had a little bit of magic left. there was uproar and celebration on the field last night as the as made a remarkable comeback with a three-run rally in the 9th inning to beat the detroit tigers 4-3. some highlights including josh reddick's 5th inning strikeout that was the 8th of the series breaking oakland's record for most strikeouts by a player in a post-season series. but the crowd went crazy for coco crisp. crisp drove home seth smith completing the comeback for the win. >> just not winning up. playing to the final out.

the guys did a fantastic job. >> reporter: crisp got a post- game treat. josh reddick pied his teammate during the the post-game interview washing him off with gatorade. again that game will be here at the coliseum tonight. it will be at 6:30 so you can expect a packed parking lot, packed coliseum and excitement. live in oakland, cate caugiran, cbs 5. sandoval high and deep. will it stay fair? that is way, way out of here. >> and the giants also had to win yesterday to stay alive and they did in a big way. they pounded the reds in cincinnati 8-3. that series like the as even at two games apiece. game time this morning is 10:00. we hear a lot of san francisco bars are opening up early. so if you sneak into the city or if you want to play a little hooky at work i think a lot of tvs will be on today. a new set of polls show mitt romney making gains on

president obama in two swing states. the cbs news-"new york times" poll shows romney leading 48- 47% in colorado. it was the president who led by those same numbers last month. in virginia the president leads 51-46% the same in september and in wisconsin the president has a 50-47% advantage. he led by 6 points back in september. this comes as vice president joe biden and representative paul ryan prepare to face off tonight for this year's only vice-presidential debate. randall pinkston joins us now live from danville kentucky the site of the big showdown. the president last week and the vp this week. >> reporter: a lot is riding on vice president joe biden. the democrats are rattled with president obama's performance last week all of the polls showing that mitt romney won it hands down.

that has brought an up turn in the polls for romney and vice president joe biden is going to try to reverse that try to whip up enthusiasm try to bring some of those voters back. on the other hand, congressman ryan will be very, very strong on the economy. he knows the numbers. he knows the issues. he will have his first opportunity to make his impression before the american public as the number 2 on the republican ticket. >> what are the perceived strengths and weaknesses for each of the vp candidates? >> reporter: congressman ryan being the budget expert he is going to be really focused on trying to talk about what the president has not done with respect to the economy and how the romney-ryan team will turn things around. what he has to be careful about is to make sure that whatever he says is going to be in sync with the top of the ticket because some of ryan's positions have been slightly refuted by mitt romney who has made it clear that he is at the

top of the ticket and it is going to be his policies that will rule. for vice president biden, he has to whip up the enthusiasm. he also will be trying to make sure voters know that president obama has accomplished something in the past four years. he will try to spell it out just as he did at the democratic convention. and biden will have to be careful not to make one of his famous gaffs. >> he is a great debater on the senate floor but has been known to make a few boo boos for lack of a better word. >> reporter: well, certainly as reporters will be looking forward to whatever he has to say. [ laughter ] >> reporter: that we can talk about tomorrow morning. if it's a gaff, so be it. >> well, we'll all find out tonight. thank you so much, randall pinkston, live for us in danville, kentucky at the site of tonight's debate and, of course, you can watch it right here, live coverage tonight starting at 6:00 on cbs 5 and cbssf.com. time of now 5:40. the city of oakland is suing the federal government over

medical marijuana. the suit is aimed at stopping the feds from shutting down one of oakland's largest pot dispensaries. it claims federal officials promised not to raid dispensaries that follow state law and that shutting down the facility would send patients to the black market. about 20 protestors could face charges after clashing with police in san francisco. the protest began yesterday afternoon as a group called homes not jails marched down 18th street and broke in a vacant building on castro street. police eventually stormed the building and arrested the people inside. the protest coincided with world homeless day. a suit is filed in a move to stop at least part of the central subway under construction in san francisco. the suit says it's against the city charter to use union square for an entrance to the subway. today federal officials are expected to announce nearly one billion federal dollars for the subway project. 5:41 now. we got new details about lance armstrong's alleged doping. the elaborate scheme his team

is accused of running. >> plus holding bp accountable. the possible settlement in the gulf oil spill. ,, there's a place, a dark place, we go. an uncharacteristically negative place for such a positive company... place... we go... when we describe our yogurt. tillamook yogurt has no high fructose corn syrup. no artificial sweeteners. no artificial colors and no artificial flavors. that's no, no, no and... no. of course, sometimes no is a good thing.

number 5, why single out

pbs for cuts when it's only .017% of our $4 trillion federal budget. wonky kid asking that. number 4, should i keep my allowance money in the caymen islands? and the number one thing kids would like to ask mitt romney, can i refuse to release my report card? [ laughter ] >> david letterman. >> having fun with mr. romney. we'll see how his running mate does tonight. we got some news on the economy just in from washington. the labor department says there's been a big drop in new jobless claims. 339,000 americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. that's the fewest in 4.5 years. good news for the president right there. 5:45 now. there's a lot of political talk about the fiscal cliff among politicians. the combination of tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to go into effect next january. so what should you be doing to prepare? jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com, is

here to tell us. good morning, jill. >> reporter: good morning. >> well, jill, many expect congress is going to hatch this temporary deal to prevent jumping off the cliff but what actions should people take if they don't? >> reporter: i think it's a great question because who really wants to put your financial future in congress' hands? here's what you can do right now. the current capital gains rate is 15%. that's scheduled to increase to 20% right after the first of the year. if your adjusted gross income is more than $200,000 as a single filer, 250 as a joint filer, the new healthcare reform will levy or could levy an additional surtax of 3.8% on capital gains. let's do the math for ya. that means capital gains rate for the wealthiest could go up to nearly 24%. so here's what you want to do. look in your taxable account. maybe you're sitting on some gains. maybe you sell it this year, pay the absolute lowest rate we

have seen in years, 15%, and not chance paying more in the future. look, even if congress does act and avoids the fiscal cliff, i think most economists and tax experts say capital gains rates are likely to rise in the next five years. this is a terrific way to lock in rates today. save money in the future. >> we're all about saving money. how about estate taxes? >> reporter: this is sort of an interesting place because, you know, a lot of people say that's just for rich people and so right now it is. each taxpayer is entitled to a federal tax credit that pretty much wipes out any tax due on estates above about $5 million. the tax rate if you do have $5 million is 35%. but after january 1, that exemption drops back down to a million dollars. and by the way, the tax rate pops up by 20% from 35 to 55%. now, i know you think a million dollars is a huge number but when you think about it, people

with a retirement accounts, house, insurance proceeds this. could bring a lot of people into estate tax territory that means right now is a great time to schedule an appointment with an estate attorney to review your existing documents or at least start fresh. get new documents. and get busy. look, this is really cost- effective stuff. you have three months to do it. for more on the fiscal cliff and how it might impact your money, go to moneywatch.com. we have a thorough fiscal cliff q & a. >> all right. jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com, thank you. 5:48. let's check traffic and weather. a little bit of rain and crazy weather yesterday and last night, too. >> this is the most fun i have had in months! driving home yesterday even in the middle of the day you could see some of those big cumulonimbus clouds building up in the bay area and reports of thunderstorms in the afternoon and even into the evening hours. what an afternoon it was. right now none of that severe weather developing outside at the moment. we have some light showers this morning but most of that wrap

around moisture moving off the coast at this time. still there is a chance we could see a couple of sprinkles early on today. this afternoon it's going to stay cool with a mix of sun and clouds. and then a chance of showers possibly thunderstorms developing in the south half of the bay area. so here's this low swinging down into southern california that's been bringing the wrap around moisture around this low and it's going to pump it back into the bay area again today bringing another chance of rainfall and thunderstorms as we head into the latter part of th day. another batch of moisture moving through. the south half of the bay area could see some rainfall as we head into the latter part of the day. delays now at sfo of 70 minutes on arriving flights. partly cloudy this afternoon, about 63. across the country you will see 82 degrees in houston, about 57 sunny and bright into flow. around the bay area today we are going to keep the temperatures below average about 70 degrees in fairfield. that would be as warm as it gets. 69 in livermore. over the next couple of days, partly cloudy tomorrow and then we start to warm up for

the weekend. the return of 80s towards sunday in the valleys, offshore wind and warmer in the middle of next week. n marin county showers have been moving through the area. we have some good news and bad news for your southbound 101 ride. good news an earlier traffic alert has been canceled. all lanes open southbound 101 approaching marinwood. the bad news is look at how bad traffic is stacked up in that area. jammed solid it looks like through novato beyond highway 37 so hopefully this will start to recover but in the meantime, it's a little show going you will want to give yourself some extra time through novato. elsewhere commuting towards sausalito past marinwood exit, everything looks good through sausalito down towards the waldo grade and across the golden gate bridge. no delay at all. elsewhere, out towards the east bay, we do have some brake lights now westbound 580 through the altamont pass and livermore. yeah that drive time continues to just creep on up. it is in the yellow now, 19 minutes between the altamont

pass and the dublin interchange. also very slow going an early start to our slow traffic there through antioch a lot of red sensors showing speeds below 25 miles per hour. a quick look now at some of our bridges. here's a live look at the bay bridge where it looks like it's just stacking up in a few of the cash lanes but fastrak users are getting by okay no metering lights yet. it was a bad commute yesterday at the bay bridge so we're crossing our fingers we wouldn't see a repeat of that today. and a quick check of the san mateo bridge. we had some overnight roadwork on eastbound 92 on the approach leaving hayward. it looks like that has been picked up. so now you're pretty much good to go in both directions. traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. back to you guys. >> thank you. new this morning, four children and a grandmother were killed in a house fire in baltimore overnight. when firefighters arrived, the house was engulfed in flames. one person jumped from a second floor window to escape. a firefighter was also injured. the five bodies were found after the fire was put out. 5:51 now. new this morning, word that a

settlement could be close concerning billions of dollars worth of damage from that deepwater horizon oil rig explosion just 2.5 years ago. the "wall street journal" reports bp and the u.s. justice department have picked up talks in the last couple of weeks. that explosion killed 11 workers, caused oil to hit the beaches in five gulf coast states. they are still cleaning up. time now 5:52. an elderly couple trapped in a burning car. the brave bystanders who rushed in to help. >> a lost golden retriever lives up to his name. how he made it home and helped find his brother, too, coming up. and you could save hundreds." call or click today.

fiery car accident. it happ two member in north dakota are being hailed as heroes after pulling three people from a fiery car accident.

it happened tuesday night in moorhead. an 83-year-old man and his wife are hospitalized in critical condition. the woman of in the other car is being treated for less serious injuries. the u.s. anti-doping agency says lance armstrong was the master mind of widespread doping in his sport. and it has 11 former teammates of armstrong's to back up the claim. the seven-time tour de france champ had dared the agency to prove that he had cheated. they say they have enough evidence to say armstrong was at the center of quote the most sophisticated doping program professional cycling has ever seen. armstrong's lawyer calls the report a one-sided hatchet job. a massachusetts woman lost her two dogs and reached out for help on facebook. she got it. it worked but only brought home one of the dogs. penny blackwell lost baxter and bailey in the woods near her home. both dogs were tied together with a double leash. after the facebook plea went out, someone found baxter but not bailey.

so baxter took penny through the woods to go out and find her brother. >> i could hardly get him untied because he was jumping all over me and baxter so happy to see us. >> there you go. they found bailey with his leash tangled in a tree. the dogs were missing for two weeks. both are now home safe and sound playing with the tennis balls eating lots of food. >> apparently. [ laughter ] 5:56. in the next half hour, modern day bonnie and clyde west coast crime spree and how it could be tied to the murder of a bay area retired teacher coming your way. >> new clues connecting serial killers with the girl who has been missing since 1988. michaela garecht. we'll tell you about it next. >> and the amazing as have a rally in the 9th inning to force game five. ,,,,

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